Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the nodal agency for the R46,000-crore Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, is talking to lenders, including State Bank of India (SBI) and IDBI Bank for funds, senior bankers and government officials told FE. They added that a couple of sovereign wealth funds have also been approached.

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the nodal agency for the R46,000-crore Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, is talking to lenders, including State Bank of India (SBI) and IDBI Bank for funds, senior bankers and government officials told FE. They added that a couple of sovereign wealth funds have also been approached.

Confirming the development, Radheshyam Mopalwar, V-C and managing director, MSRDC, said SBI Capital Markets would arrange the loans roping in seven-eight banks. “As soon as we get an approval from the state government, we will officially sign up with SBI Caps which will syndicate the loan,” Mopalwar said, adding that the funding requirement was close to $4 billion.

The Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway, also called the Maharashtra Samruddhi Corridor, is the first project being set up by pooling land rather than by acquiring it. “This is the first effort to get into a partnership with the farmers wherein we are giving them developed land more than even what a real estate developer would offer. Since, the land being offered is along the 24 inter-changes planned along the highway, the value realisation of the land on completion of the project will be exponentially higher,” Mopalwar had earlier told FE.

The proposed prosperity greenfield corridor between two major cities of Nagpur and Mumbai will be a 710-km long four-lane super fast expressway. It will cut the distance which currently takes up to 16 hours to just 8 hours. The expressway will run through 10 districts, 22 talukas and 345 villages. However, the benefits will spill over to as many as 27 districts since other areas too will be connected to the main road.

FE had reported in August that the Maharashtra government will pay farmers who surrender land for the 710-km long Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway, an amount of R20,000-R40,000 per acre for a period of 10 years. Moreover, farmers will get back around one-fourth of the area that they give up as a developed parcel along the four- to six-lane road.